LOS ANGELES (CP) - The Los Angeles Kings recalled goaltender Yutaka ***ufuji from the Manchester Monarchs of the American Hockey League on an emergency basis Friday.

***ufuji, 24, has not appeared in a game for the Monarchs this season. He has a 3-3-0 record with a 3.19 goals-against average in 10 appearances with Reading of the ECHL.

Should he get into a game, ***ufuji would become the first Japanese man to play in the NHL. He is one of just three Japanese-born players selected by an NHL team, and the first since Hiroyuki Miura was taken by the Montreal Canadiens in 1992.

The six-foot-one, 186-pound ***ufuji played for Kokudo of the Japanese league prior to making his North American debut in 2003 with the ECHL's Cincinnati Cyclones.

I saw this on HFBoards and I thought you might find it amusing, 24champbailey.

REP! If you have to get a guy from Japan to goaltend, you are in toruble.
Champ, thanks for Parros. I get at least one fight almost every night. One of the last hippies in the league. I think Hanson brothers were/are worshipped by him.

I saw this on HFBoards and I thought you might find it amusing, 24champbailey.

Yeah its a little old, there is some more material at a Kings board. I was at the Calgary game last night and I don't disagree with that google search of Coutier, but hey Kopitar made it a fun night and my seats were next to Jack Bauer's dad aka Donald Sutherland. Price of beer at staples is still a joke, 10 bucks per beer. My next game is probably going to be against the Red Wings or the Oilers next month so hopefully Cloutier is injured by then.

REP! If you have to get a guy from Japan to goaltend, you are in toruble.
Champ, thanks for Parros. I get at least one fight almost every night. One of the last hippies in the league. I think Hanson brothers were/are worshipped by him.

Evidence is piling up that Suck fans know absolutely squat about the sport nor do they follow it. ***ifaji was brought up to LA to be a backup not the starter, secondly don't thank me for Parros we didn't trade Parros to you Suck fans. Thank the Av fans on this board, which by the way should be thanking me after they said Parros is essentially worthless.

REP! If you have to get a guy from Japan to goaltend, you are in toruble.
Champ, thanks for Parros. I get at least one fight almost every night. One of the last hippies in the league. I think Hanson brothers were/are worshipped by him.

I like this fight between Parros and Scott Parker. Two of the hairy big boys in the league.

In the City of Angels, somewhere the Los Angeles Kings hotshot rookie centre is already being immortalized.

Cropping up around town is graffiti of his likeness, spreading the word of the city's newest sensation.

"I've seen pictures of it," said the teen - whose first name is pronounced Ahn-jay - embarrassed by the unique attention. "It's a great feeling the fans enjoy watching me and really like me here. That's one good thing. If the fans like you, it's easier to play."

The artwork - his face framed by a star outline, with Anze written beneath - may seem bizarre.

But it can't be denied Kopitar, the pride of Slovenia, formerly part of Yugoslavia, is on his way to being the face of the Kings franchise.

Drafted 11th overall in 2005, the first player from his homeland to be selected, he's second only to Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin in the rookie points race, with 28 in 34 game going into last night's meeting with the Calgary Flames.

Throw in his excellent command of the English language, ability to fire verbal volleys and respectful attitude, and you can understand why the Kings are so excited.

"He's a great, great kid," said Craig Conroy, who sits beside Kopitar in the dressing room. "He reminds me, the persona, is kinda like Jarome (Iginla): Nice, giving, doesn't like anything, just comes to have fun. It's nice to sit next to him. Better than (Sean) Avery."

Malkin may be the odds-on favourite for the Calder Trophy, but Kopitar's achievements are impressive.

Kopitar one popular King
Fevered interest in top freshman
Article Tools
Printer friendly
E-mail
Font: * * * * Scott Cruickshank, CanWest News Service
Published: Wednesday, December 20, 2006
LOS ANGELES -- If photographic evidence on the Internet is to be trusted, interest in Anze Kopitar is reaching mania levels.

Apparently -- and these pictures do look authentic -- boosters of the Los Angeles Kings are so pumped by Kopitar's scoring exploits this season that they've taken to spray-painting his image, in bunches, onto concrete surfaces around town.

The stencil is Kopitar's face, wearing a crown and encircled by stars, with ANZE thick-lettered across the bottom.

"Really? I haven't seen it," says Craig Conroy, the rookie sensation's dressing-room neighbour. "[The popularity] has begun slowly. He's the future of the franchise. A great, great kid. It's fun to sit next to him."

A few feet away, Kopitar admits that he's heard about the graffiti tributes.

"But I don't really want to talk about it," says the 19-year-old Slovenian in impeccable English. "Well, obviously, it's a great feeling that the fans enjoy watching me. They really like me here, so that's a really good point. If the fans like you, it's easier to play because you know that everyone's cheering for you."

Even if web-posting fanatics are leg-pulling, the Kings are not. Appreciation comes genuine.

Only one freshman is producing more than Kopitar -- a 6-4, 220-pounder who's nudging toward a point-per-game pace -- and that's Pittsburgh Penguins phenom Evgeni Malkin.

Of course, there's more than on-ice success at play.

Handling NHL pressure as a teenager and living on his own as a newcomer in a sprawling American city are challenges that Kopitar must meet. So far, no problem.

"It's nice to have some family around with Christmas here," says the 11th pick at the 2005 draft. "Sometimes, it gets to the point where you get a little homesick and you miss everybody. But you've got to battle through it because I'm here for hockey."

Kopitar had shone at the 2005 training camp, but returned to Europe to fulfil a contractual obligation in Sweden.

This time, he's not budging.

"Obviously, my dream came true," says Kopitar. "I never imagined starting off the year like I did. It was pretty big [in Slovenia] when I made the team. I guess I'm pretty famous back home."

Cloutier may be terrible at stopping pucks, but he's one of the greatest fighting goaltenders in NHL history. I would have loved to see him and Ron Hextall fight (maybe they have, I don't know?).

I wish Cloutier would have dropped them with Hartnell and beat that piece of **** up. Hartnell slew footed Paul Kariya in the last regular season game of 2004, giving Kariya an ankle sprain that essentially kept him out of the playoffs. Now they're on the same damn team.

Cloutier may be terrible at stopping pucks, but he's one of the greatest fighting goaltenders in NHL history. I would have loved to see him and Ron Hextall fight (maybe they have, I don't know?).

I wish Cloutier would have dropped them with Hartnell and beat that piece of **** up. Hartnell slew footed Paul Kariya in the last regular season game of 2004, giving Kariya an ankle sprain that essentially kept him out of the playoffs. Now they're on the same damn team.

I just wish Cloutier would take some actual goaltending tips from Hextall or Bill Ranford. Hextall is the assistant GM to Deano and Bill Ranford is the goalie coach for the kings. I don't know if I have seen a goalie play as crappy as Cloutier. The ONLY reason I watch the Kings is because of Kopitar.

I just wish Cloutier would take some actual goaltending tips from Hextall or Bill Ranford. Hextall is the assistant GM to Deano and Bill Ranford is the goalie coach for the kings. I don't know if I have seen a goalie play as crappy as Cloutier. The ONLY reason I watch the Kings is because of Kopitar.

Cloutier has by far the worst statistics of any goalie thats played enough games to be qualified for the "leaderboard". The Kings should just release him and go with young guys. It's too bad for the Kings that they didn't keep Cristobal Huet, who would win the Vezina trophy if the season ended today.

Cloutier has by far the worst statistics of any goalie thats played enough games to be qualified for the "leaderboard". The Kings should just release him and go with young guys. It's too bad for the Kings that they didn't keep Cristobal Huet, who would win the Vezina trophy if the season ended today.

Well we got rid of Huet because we didn't know his potential and Huet wasn't anything special with the kings. As far as releasing Cloutier we can't do it because it would be a major cap hit for the Kings for a while, so we are just going to have to suck it up and hope Cloutier regains his form or wait for Garon to come back. The goalie department isnt all that bleak though with Zatoff and Bernier doing well in the minors/juniors.

Leksand, Sweden — United States defenceman Jack Johnson is not leaving the University of Michigan to join the Los Angeles Kings.

There was a buzz at the 2007 world junior championship yesterday that Johnson, the third overall selection of the 2005 National Hockey League entry draft, had already packed his bags and was primed to make his debut with the Kings next week.

But Johnson's father, Jack Johnson Sr., said Thursday night that the rumour was fictitious.

Johnson and the U.S. team will play for the bronze medal on Friday against the host country, Sweden. He raised the ire of Canadian fans at the 2006 world junior championship in Vancouver when he viciously elbowed Canadian forward Steven Downie in Canada's 3-2 victory in the round-robin.

But Johnson, a sophomore at Michigan, came through big-time for the U.S. in the 2-1 shootout loss in the semi-final on Wednesday when, twice facing elimination in the tie-breaker, the big defenceman beat Canadian goaltender Carey Price both times.

In fact, when U.S. coach Ron Rolston was selecting his three shooters for the shootout, he said, "OK, we'll have Pat Kane, Peter Mueller, and . . ."

Seriously though from what I understand is that Jack Johnson cleaned and moved out of the dorms at UM and is staying at his parents house in Ann Arbor. Might not be immediate but I am pretty sure he joins the Kings before the year is over.

Here's a sentence that I'm very happy to write: Team USA defeated Sweden, 2-1, to win the bronze medal at the World Junior Championship on Friday. The Americans had lost their four previous bronze-medal games at this elite tournament and it's their second medal in the last four WJC appearances. Team USA won the gold medal in 2004.

Blues prospect Erik Johnson, the first overall pick at last June's draft, scored the game-winning goal midway through the second period. Johnson took a pass from fellow defenseman Taylor Chorney (Edmonton, 36th overall, 2005) in the high slot and ripped a low wrist shot past Swedish stopper Joel Gistedt. Chorney made the play by keeping the puck in along the left wing boards, then patiently finding Johnson with a crisp pass.

U.S. goalie Jeff Frazee (New Jersey, 38th overall, 2005) made 26 stops to earn the victory. The University of Minnesota puckstopper went 4-1 after replacing Jeff Zatkoff (Los Angeles, 74th overall, 2006) in the third game of the tournament. Frazee's only loss came in a semifinals shootout against Canada.

As I watched the game (thankfully, TSN's broadcast was shown on the NHL's Center Ice package), I wondered what Anaheim GM Brian Burke and his Carolina counterpart, Jim Rutherford, might be thinking.

Burke has done a terrific job since arriving in Anaheim in 2005. Let me say that again, Burke has done a terrific job with the Ducks. That said, he must be kicking himself for passing on American-born defenseman Jack Johnson at the 2005 draft. This kid is the real deal. He can skate, pass and shoot. He plays well in his own end, and he seems to thrive on adversity and loves a physical game. Really, he's a perfect Burke-type player.

Still, he passed on him to select another American, winger Bobby Ryan. Now, I don't want to downgrade Ryan, a power forward who's having another good season with Owen Sound of the Ontario Hockey League, but Johnson is going to be a special defenseman in the NHL. It's hard to believe he could have joined a defense that already includes future Hall of Famers Scott Niedermayer and Chris Pronger. That would've called for a Dick Enberg special, "Oh my!"

Instead, Johnson will play up the road from Anaheim in Los Angeles. Kings GM Dean Lombardi made a steal of deal when he acquired Johnson's rights from the Hurricanes in October. Lombardi sent defenseman Tim Gleason and center Eric Belanger to the Canes for Johnson and overpaid D-man Oleg Tverdovsky. Clearly, Deano took Tverdovsky as the price to get Johnson. It was well worth it.

Rutherford, who became a 2005 draft day winner when the Ducks passed on Johnson, opted to deal the future star after he refused several offers to leave the University of Michigan and turn pro with the Canes. I guess everyone has their reasons for doing things, but I just don't see the sense in trading a player with Johnson's potential. I hate to criticize a Cup-winning GM and a good guy like Rutherford, but I wouldn't have traded Johnson. He's going to be a real good one.

While I don't have it on any firm authority, I expect Johnson to turn pro after his sophomore season at Michigan. I don't think he'll jump to join the Kings for the final few games of this season, but rather make the decision over the summer. When he does come to the NHL, I expect he's going to leave both Burke and Rutherford shaking their heads more than a few times.

Finally, I thought Buffalo-native Patrick Kane really juiced his stock for the upcoming draft with his strong play during the tournament. Kane is a terrific offensive player. He has excellent, quick hands. He's particularly good around the net, where he has a nice patience with the puck. With the tournament behind him, he'll go back to London (OHL) where he and fellow draft eligible Sam Gagner are tearing up the league. I think there's a chance that Kane will be the first player selected at the June draft.

The Los Angeles Kings have placed goaltender Mathieu Garon on injury reserve and recalled goaltender Yutaka ***ufuji from the Manchester Monarchs of the American Hockey League.

Garon injured his finger in a 5-2 loss to the San Jose Sharks.

Garon, 28, has a record of 8-7-3, a goals-against-average of 2.80, a save-percentage of .904 and two shutouts in 20 appearances with the Kings this season. The Kings acquired the 6-2, 192-pound native of Chandler, Quebec, from Montreal with a third-round choice (Paul Baier) in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft for Radek Bonk and goaltender Cristobal Huet on June 26, 2004.

Originally selected by Montreal in the second-round (44th overall) in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft, Garon has a record of 55-53-3, a goals-against-average of 2.91, a save-percentage of .902 and 10 shutouts in 126 career NHL appearances with the Kings and Montreal.
Related Info

* Kings' Cloutier out indefinitely

***ufuji, 24, has a record of 2-0-0, a goals-against-average of 1.30, a save-percentage of .954 and no shutouts in three games with the Monarchs this season. In addition, the 6-1, 180-pound native of Tokyo, Japan, and the first player born in Japan to ever dress for in an NHL game (Kings vs. Dallas at STAPLES Center on December 16, 2006), has a record of 3-3-0, a goals-against-average of 3.19 and a save-percentage of .898 in 10 appearances with the Reading Royals (ECHL) this season.

Originally selected by the Kings in the eighth-round (238th overall) in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, ***ufuji has not appeared in an NHL game.